Known for his ‘emotional connect’ with India, Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chief Shinzo Abe seemed set to be sworn in as the new PM with the LDP-led coalition winning an absolute majority in the House of Representatives.
As PM in 2006, Abe had stunned many by predicting that Japan-India relations had the potential to overtake Japan-US and Japan-China ties . “Abe had outlined a bold vision for Japan-India ties and his coming back should be a great opportunity for the ties to rapidly expand,” strategic affairs expert C Raja Mohan said.
During his a visit to India in 2011, Abe had told a gathering at the ICWA, “India’s success is in Japan’s best interests and Japan’s success is in the best interests of India.”
Abe’s comeback couldn’t have come at a better time for India. For one, he has taken a much more pragmatic view of Japan’s nuclear policy in the face of the Fukushima accident than his predecessor Yoshihiko Noda who wanted to phase out nuclear power completely by 2030. Instead of shunning it altogether, he has asked to let reactors considered safe reopen. This has led to hope that talks with India could resume peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Abe won despite the popular sentiment against nuclear power.
Abe’s hawkish stand on China (he recently described Japan’s position on Senkaku islands dispute as too reserved) is not going to harm India either at a time when the focus of the world has shifted to the Asia-Pacific in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region.
It remains to be seen though how quickly Abe can move to implement some of the controversial issues on his agenda, like his intent to rebuild ties with the US by “exercising the right to collective self defence”. He wants Japan to be able to militarily defend its allies who are attacked by tweaking the interpretation of Japan’s constitution, if not the constitution itself.
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